This workshop has been organised in the context of FIThydro (Fishfriendly Innovative Technologies for Hydropower, http://www.fithydro.eu/).
FIThydro is a 4-year EU-funded research project, which aims to support decisions on commissioning and operating hydropower plants (HPP) by use of existing and innovative technologies. The project concentrates on cost-effective environmental solutions and strategies to avoid individual fish damage and to support the development of self-sustainable fish populations. Methods, tools and devices are applied and evaluated at test sites all over Europe, covering four regions:
- the Alpine region
- Scandinavia
- north-west Europe
- the Iberian Peninsula

This workshop was the second in a series of 4 regional workshops (the 1st was held in Paris, in January) and will serve as a platform for consultation and exchange between FIThydro scientists, stakeholders and water users involved or affected by hydropower production in the region of Iberian Peninsula.
The workshop mainly addresses authorities involved in HPP authorization processes, HPP operators, water resources and environmental NGOs, consultants, planners, fisheries associations and the research community.
The workshop and the FIThydro project as a whole are key to support the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD), as well as meeting the objectives of energy policy.

At this event, key aspects of the FIThydro work-program were presented and participants were invited to give their feedback and highlights on the key open issues on the assessment and planning of ecologically compatible hydropower production.